Come, Rejoice
9

Text and music: Tracy Y. Cannon (1879–1961; LDS); adapted
Tune name: HINCKLEY

Familiar to many Latter- day Saints as the first hymn of the 1950 hymnal, “Come, Rejoice” is a Christ- centered celebration of the restoration of the gospel. Jesus Christ, around whose life and teachings the early Church arose, has spoken again in latter days to gladden the hearts of his followers and gather them to him.

The lines “Shout hosanna to his name; / One and all his might proclaim” end all three verses of this hymn. The words “shout hosanna” bring to mind the familiar story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when his followers spread palm leaves in his path and welcomed him with cries of “Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9). This glorious occasion was immediately followed by the events leading up to the Crucifixion.

In this hymn, we, too, welcome the Savior with our hosannas. It is not his physical presence we greet but his words of truth as he “speaks to earth again.” His sacrifice, betrayal, and death are part of the past; now, the future promises joy and triumph. We, his followers, will spread his restored word: “Let all hear who live today! / This is life, the truth, the way.”

Tracy Y. Cannon commented: “The reason for writing this hymn was that I desired to compose a hymn on the restoration of the gospel. It has always been easier for me to write music than words. The music of this hymn kept filling my mind and I, therefore, wrote words that seemed to me to suit the spirit of the music” (quoted in J. Spencer Cornwall, Stories of Our Mormon Hymns, 4).

“Come, Rejoice” was first published in Hymns (1948). It appears in the 1985 hymnal in an arrangement adapted for unison singing, with piano or organ accompaniment. The tune name honors the composer’s wife, Carol Hinckley Cannon.